Access to information about destroying the obsolete missiles of the Bulgarian army

Petar Penchev v. Minister of Desfense
Court case 8969/2003 of the Supreme Administrative Court

Background facts:

Administrative secret was the reason for witholding information requested by Petar Penchev, director of the regional Montana section of "Ecoglasnost" National Movement in 2003. With a request from May 25, 2003 Petar Penchev requested information related to destroying obsolete missiles from the equipment of the Bulgarian Army near the village of Gabrovnica. Access to information was refused with a decision dated Aug. 06, 2003 based on Order № ОH-420/ 08.07.2003 by the Minister of Defense, with which the Minister adopted a list of information about the Bulgarian army, classified as administrative secret. This list has not been promulgated or published in any way. According to information coming from other institutions, when burning the engines of the SS-23 missiles, harmful emmissions of gases are released into the atmosphere, causing serious risks for the public health.

Court proceedings:

The decision to withold information has been appealed. The plaintiff received the information he requested from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. The court proceedings had been terminated.

Expected outcome:

It is important that the applicability of the administrative secret exemption has been challenged, specifically in a case related to the defense of the state. This case is also significant because it shows the importance of the precise usage of the exemptions and the implementation of the test of the Aarhus convention, according to which the exemptions from the right to information access cannot be applied, if there is a prevailing public interest from disclosure.